The presidential election is three years away, but the recent government shutdown and the way aspirants responded to it will be a key metric for partisans choosing their next nominee. So how did they fare?

Whether one thinks the turn of events in Syria and Iran were stage managed by the Obama team, or as many of his critics claim the lucky result of a muddled and fumbling U.S. policy, the fact remains that the Obama administration is on the cusp of engineering a major reset of the Middle East's geopolitical landscape.

This American action-drama was more than its busty women, overly confident male counterparts and long, drawn-out commercials for Jell-O. Much to the show's unapologetic critical disapproval, Baywatch had influence.

For all the bluster from Senator Ted Cruz about the false reasons to fear Obamacare, the irony is that veterans should fear him and his Tea Party cohorts in the House of Representatives. After all, they're on a course to block troops and veterans from the health care they're owed.

Who would have predicted just five years ago that potential contenders for the Democratic Party's 2016 presidential nomination would be knocking each other over -- in Iowa, no less -- trying to prove that they were the first to champion gay marriage?

Hillary Clinton deserves credit for her good work at the State Department, but that tenure will very possibly be seen differently by 2016, and not because of Benghazi. The direction of foreign policy during the Obama administration will not fade away.

In light of the N.S.A. and earlier "Cable Gate" scandals, the Brazilian government may believe the Pentagon sees the country as a menace or potential threat. If that is Washington's view, however, such a policy may become more problematic in future.

While the the melodramas of the moment which too often define the media culture played out, America's Asia-Pacific Pivot continued over the past week with major developments. In a host of seemingly disparate events ranging across many thousands of miles, a multi-faceted geopolitical strategy played out on multiple fronts.

The crises just keep on coming for the Obama Administration. Egypt, Syria, Snowden, Russia, Afghanistan, boom boom boom. But the Asia-Pacific Pivot -- from over-engagement with the Islamic world of the Middle East and Central Asia to the rising Asia-Pacific region -- keeps moving forward.